1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage medium storage and/or reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information with using a storage medium.
2. Background of the Invention
In the past, an electronic equipment employing an optical disk as a memory medium, what is shown in FIG. 1 has been generally known. The electronic equipment shown in FIG. 1, is a disk reproducing apparatus for inserting a disk cartridge housing therein an optical disk used for recording and/or reproduction of information into a holder in the equipment. The disk reproducing apparatus has a casing 1 having a storage medium insertion portion provided through its front surface and a front panel 2 attached to the storage medium insertion portion of the casing 1. The storage medium insertion portion of the casing 1 is closed by the front panel 2.
The front panel 2 has a storage medium insertion portion 3 having a long rectangular opening portion extended laterally and formed therethrough, and through the storage medium insertion portion 3, a optical disk 4 as a storage disk is inserted and ejected. The storage medium insertion portion 3 provided in the front panel 2 can be opened and closed by a lid body 5 provided on its inner side. At an inside of the lid body 5 is provided a storage medium holder for holding the optical disk 4 and for loading the optical disk 4 onto a turntable of a disk rotation mechanism.
The holder of the disk reproducing apparatus is generally held horizontally relative to a chassis through a slide member. The holder is arranged to be movable in an upward and downward direction relative to the chassis by a set of vertical and parallel movement mechanisms provided on both the left and the right sides of the holder while being kept in its horizontal posture.
The above disk reproducing apparatus employs an arrangement in which the vertical and parallel movement mechanisms are provided on both left and right sides of the holder, and the holder is supported from both sides by the similar parallel movement mechanisms to move the holder with being kept in its horizontal posture. Since the parallel movement mechanisms are respectively provided on both sides of the holder, this increases a width dimension in a left and right direction, and a need for a mechanism that interlockingly activates both of the parallel movement mechanisms comparatively complicates the arrangement of the disk reproducing apparatus.
A lock release position of the holder lock member for locking the holder is nearly at the same position where the storage medium is loaded onto the turntable of the disk rotating mechanism. As a result, when the storage medium is inserted into the disk reproducing apparatus, the storage medium must be deeply pushed into an innermost part of the storage medium holder, which gives a user unsatisfactory operability when the storage medium is inserted.